𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊.

A Mulan retelling brimming with female rage, moral greyness, misogyny and magic systems. It's incredibly familiar in terms of story set-up, but leaves any Disney niceties at the wayside in favour of broken bones, childhood trauma, manipulative spirits and battles, both mental and physical. Complex female protagonists are where it's at and I'll always love it when they carve out space for themselves in a world that denigrates and disregards them. Definitely check trigger warnings before diving in.

Our protagonist, Meilin, spends half the novel unconscious or gravely injured and I love that for her. None of this instant recovery rubbish. Our girl is fighting for her life and it 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴. Fighting physically against opponents twice your size 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴. Wielding magic you've never trained in 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴. And doing this all in a setting where being a woman is punishable by death... The inner anguish, anxiety and rage is soul cleansing in a "scorched with molten fire and then doused with seawater" kinda way.

The romance aspect of The Night End with Fire never takes over (in a good way) and the love triangle - the foundations of which are dug and solidified in time for book 2 - feels genuinely balanced. Will she end up with the man that gives her the security that she craved or the man who compliments who she's becoming? I'm excited to see more of their dynamics unfold, but honestly she could burn down the whole world for spite (and them with it) and I would still support her every decision. Yas queen, slay.

There are dream sequences and passages of realm walking within these ere' pages that I found a little hard to distinguish at times, but I suspect that may be down to the eARC formatting and will likely be fixed when it comes out in print. There were also a couple of 'revelations' further down the line that confused me given that we'd been provided with the information much earlier on (and from the protagonist's perspective). Maybe Meilin suffered too many knocks to the head, which resulted in acute and highly specific amnesia? Who knows.

I'm really looking forward to the next book because at the 90% mark I was PANICKING that it wasn't all going to get wrapped up. Silly me for thinking it was a standalone.

There's a lot to recommend here, and if you love badass, complex, beaten, rage-fuelled female protagonists (who, I suspect, could decapitate you with a blade of grass) then this is one to pick up in July!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I thought this was a very good read. Meilin was a very relatable heroine, and all the characters (including the side characters) felt very well fleshed out. The plot, pacing and world building were also very good, and I loved the little reference to Mulan near the end. Recommended for anyone who loves the Mulan story and Asian inspired fantasy. Looking forward to the next instalment!

The Night Ends With Fire is a retelling of Mulan, but with spirit ghosts and way darker than the disney-movie you probably thought about.

I found the book really easy to get into. Meilin (the MC) is a character I really liked. The writing style was good, I enjoyed it but I wouldn’t say that it was extraordinary.
The magic system is pretty cool, while simple.
Overall I enjoyed the book but I wouldn’t say that I was obsessed with it, I liked the story but I wasn’t too invested for a large part of the book, but it’s still something I really enjoyed and would recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC. 1.5⭐ rounded down.

For a novel marketed as Adult, it could've passed off as YA with its 18-year-old protagonist whose age definitely showed throughout, a lack of complexity in its main characters and conflicts, and overall juvenile writing. It is a shame given that TNEWF has such a refreshing premise to work with, as explained by the author K. X. Song in her acknowledgments: a Mulan retelling where its female protagonist is driven by sheer ambition and desire for personal freedom, rather than filial piety and duty. So we're getting an imperfect heroine railing against a patriarchal system? I was so down for that!

But already early on in the story, I came across the first inkling of disappointment: Meilin is Not Like Other Girls. Unlike other young ladies her age, she was taught kung fu! She knows qigong! She can soar through the rooftops in secret! All this even before she disguises herself to join the army. We are simply told that she has these skills, and the story even beats us over the head to remind us that she's kung fu-trained. For the most part, I don't see why this aspect was necessary to be included at all, or even so early in the story. Her kung fu barely gives her an edge in military training, nor does she use her skills to aid other women in need. Was it to protect herself or her virtue? She simply... has them.

The other disappointment I had with Meilin was how narrative sets it up that she deserves a promotion simply because 1) she trains twice as hard as her comrades, 2) the rest of the men are assholes, and 3) she wants it really, really badly. Instead of, you know, actually showcasing her merits and skill. I desperately wanted to root for her, but she's not giving me much to work with. Meilin wants to rise up the ranks and prove herself to be the BEST, yet throws a fit when she loses a fighting match fair and square. How can she expect to become the best soldier if she's unable to beat the top fighter? It's one thing to be rightfully outraged at her male opponent if he had cheated (which he didn't), but Meilin couldn't accept that maybe she isn't as good as she thinks she is. We're simply told, just like her kung fu, that she's "objectively" more competent than everyone else. We're not shown that she excels at archery or other non hand-to-hand combat skills over her peers. We're not shown she's a better strategist than her comrades. We don't even get to see her use her cunning or ingenuity to make up for her physical disadvantage during a fight. And yet we're expected to want her to gain a leadership position without being shown how she's earned it, because she's nicer.

That's really unsatisfying to me as a female reader.

And then there's my least favorite use of "feminist gotcha", which is Meilin rushing in headfirst and refusing to listen, just because she feels slighted by a more experienced man telling her to use caution and work together. To nobody's surprise, this tends to end badly for her. Another ick for me is Meilin's feminist beliefs, or rather, the lack of them. Conditioned her entire life to believe that women have pre-ordained roles never to step out from, it's unsurprising that she grapples with internalized misogyny herself. Meilin views herself and her rebellious actions as a "perversion". An "abomination", a "depravity". Time and time again, we're privy to these thoughts. Her "rebelling" against the patriarchal culture isn't because she wants to prove that the system is wrong about women, but rather that she's the exception to her gender. Meilin wants to be *accepted* into the system in her own right, in pursuit of her personal freedom. While I can abide by a a heroine's ruthless ambition or selfishness, this on the other hand is one character flaw I never enjoy reading.

All that aside, at the very least, I expected an exciting look into the fantastical portion of this story. Meilin possesses a spirit seal that allows her to tap into the powers of a powerful dragon spirit. She can do mental compulsions on others, and attain some control over water. Yet, this took up only a small part of her journey and she doesn't exactly learn to be competent in her powers. The final confrontation with her counterpart—the host to the phoenix spirit that controls fire—is anticlimactic and not worthy of a showdown that keeps anyone on the edge of their seats.

It's also 2024. A Mulan retelling that doesn't deal with the possibility that the male love interest happens to be bisexual and is also attracted to the male persona of the heroine is a copout.

Overall, I was just bored. I was never gripped by the plot nor its characters, and especially not the romantic interests presented. The only redeeming factors of TNEWF is, unexpectedly, the multiple positive female dynamics between Meilin and the women she encounters.

This novel is all about ambition and power – what would you do to get it and what would it cost you – were very central to the plot and character motivations.

Meilin leaves her family to join the army out ambition and a desire for autonomy. She wants to find a place for herself and not be defined by the men around her. A dangerous ambition as a competent woman in the realm of men upsets the social order.

What stood out for me was that the character thought about the consequences of her choices, what would happen if she stayed, what would happen if she was discovered, and still made the choice to disguise herself because it was the only way to get what she wanted and that was worth the risk.

The book is split into three parts and each part was paced differently which was a bit odd. The second and third parts were a lot faster pace and there wasn’t much development during those sections. The first part felt more developed as time was spent setting the world up and the characters.

I thought the book lost its way in the middle a bit. The introduction of the situationship triangle didn’t fit with the rest of the book and felt very awkward. I hesitate to call it a love triangle as none of the parties actually loved or liked each other.

It was still an amazing book that gripped me from the start. I loved the magical element and the world building, each kingdom had its own history and culture that were distinct, most of the characters were fleshed out and the family and friendship relationships felt organic, it was just the romance that was weird.

Would definitely recommend to people that enjoy historical fantasy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oh my goodness, what just happened?! AHHHH This is my new obsession! This book blew my mind away!!! Wow, just wow!!! And that ending? That acknowledgement?! I'm speechless!!

Meilin is our main character, and she's absolutely amazing. She's ambitious and greedy and determined. She's a force in a world meant to out her down, to cage her into a norm she wants to burn down. She doesn't yield to any man and any being. And yet, through her ambitions, she dreams to belong. To belong with her fellow soldiers, to belong in this misogynistic and cruel society in her own terms. Throughout the book, Meilin does everything she can to reach her goals. Does she always make the right decisions? Perhaps not, but given her circumstances, she always did the best she could. What I really loved about her is that she's self-aware. She knows her goals, she knows her conflicts, she knows her loyalty and when that becomes a fragile thread. I loved that she was loyal to Sky, the Prince, and not her country. She puts her people first, not a country that, to be honest, has only harmed her. I loved this distinction. Did I mention she's ruthless? Meilin gets things done, one way or another.

This book has the best love triangle. Meilin and her two Princes that couldn't have been more different from each other. Sky is deeply dedicated to the crown, his country, his loyalty. He's strategic and an inspiring general. I'm sort of suspicious of those who are so absolutely dedicated to their duty, seven though he's very endearing. Lei is our enemy Prince, and oh, he's an enigma. A very handsome, very competent, and brilliant enigma. His upbringing wasn't rainbows and sunshines as his mother wasn't the queen but a concubine. So you can already imagine the horrible things he had to experience. Trust me, it's even worse. He was refreshing because he was irreverent, vain, funny, flirty, and his opinions don't really match a royal. I have high hopes for Lei. Both Princes are excellent characters for love interests, and the push and pull was amazing. It's truly the best love triangle I've seen.

The plot and world-building are impeccable. It's literally a storytelling perfection. I had to make myself read slower because I didn't want it to end.

At its heart, it's a story about a woman who wants more. About ambition and how much it will cost. And about loyalty to people or ideals?!

If you also loved The Poppy War, we've finally found a novel that is just as good. Truth be told, if you want to read an amazing book, you must read this. It's phenomenal!

4 stars.

The first half of this was extremely rushed and had me worried about dnfing , but the second half won me over and I really enjoyed where the story went. I liked that the author wasn't afraid to let bad things happen to her protagonist. I liked Meilin a lot, which was surprising to me. Although she is technically Not Like Other Girls she doesn't put down other women - her interactions with other female characters are very wholesome. She wants the freedom and even the respect that men enjoy but she struggles internally with that desire, as she has been raised to believe that women should not have those feelings. It makes her relatable while still grounding her in the setting.

I'm still not sure if I would class this as an adult book - while there are scenes portraying heavier stuff like torture, the characters lack complexity and the overall themes of the book were presented very straightforwardly. The book is very fast paced and would have benefitted from slowing down a little to develop the side characters and relationships more. There is also very little description of locations, making some scenes seem to take place in a void.

I liked all the nods and references to Mulan. I've seen some reviewers say the story was too similar to Mulan, but I thought the overall plot and characters were very different.

Lei was hot. I am looking forward to the sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Warning for slight spoilers, but I also didn’t get much further than 30%

I honestly don't remember where I saw this marketed as adult. Did I see it? Regardless, that did greatly impact my expectations. I have certain standards for books categorised as adult.

Whoever responsible for marketing compared this to The Poppy War set her up. I guess thematically, maybe…? But the tone was just too different. These are the similarities I gathered: Some sort of divine entity speaking to her and giving her corruptive destructive tendencies, elemental powers, bad position in society as a woman, running away from marriage, and probably a war to come.

Ignoring the comparison to The Poppy War and whether or not it's adult, I found the book to be too juvenile, even for upper YA, which was very off-putting to me. It was difficult to take it seriously, and the writing felt like bad fanfiction. If that does not bother you, you may have a better time with this and actually get to the end.

Meilin has some super fighting skills for absolutely no reason at the very beginning of the book and keeps going on about her kung fu, and how good she is. The author has her show off all the time with theatrical action scenes. The way the prose went into too much detail about her heroics was super cringe to me.

One day, she meets a Prince who starts flirting with her and tells her she's faster and cleverer than soldiers. After having an internal monologue in the middle of the night, and replaying how she saved him (there really was no need for that, it was already cringe the first time), she decides she's indeed smarter and more skilled (spoiler alert: she gets humbled). So, she decides to join the army. Getting out of her betrothal was an afterthought (it wasn't even mentioned when she was making her decision).

While I did appreciate Meilin's anger towards the sexist, patriarchal culture she was living in, I found it difficult to connect with her character. She mainly cared about herself, her future, and her fate as a woman.

I didn't care about Meilin and there were practically no other characters to care for. Besides the Prince, she barely interacted with or had any close relationships with other characters. She's supposedly friends with a fellow soldier, but they rarely spend time together on page. Her stepmother who she's really connected with, soul sisters or something, was also immediately left behind with her abusive father.

There was hinting towards a romance, but it didn’t really sit right with me. Especially when he acted concerned after whipping her???

In conclusion, I was dissapointed with this one and felt no desire to finish it.

This instantly grabbed my attention when I found out it's a retelling of my favourite Disney character, Mulan. I absolutely enjoyed reading this even though it took a few chapters to fully be engrossed in the story. The characters were likeable

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb for this book intrigued me so I was super excited to get approved for the arc. The book is really a good representation of the difficulties of being a woman and all the condescending we get, but to me it was maybe too much of it in some parts. I also think that Meilin didn't make smart choices in critical moments which contributed to some things going downhill as she was indecisive.

Otherwise, I enjoyed this book a lot it went by really fast and some of the tension with the two love interests had me giggling. I
swooned when Lei said "I protect what is mine" like 😍. I already have my favorite love interest and I'm hardcore rooting for them.

The ending was not really a big cliff hanger, but it gave a really good foundation for the second book and I can't wait to see what happens.

First of all I’d like to thank the publisher and net!galley for granting me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy where do I even start?? I was at first purely interested in this one due to it being compared to Mulan, which was one of my favorite Disney movies back when I was a kid. Guess even little me was very much in awe of strong women who weren’t afraid to claim their spot in a big scary world and just fight back.

While I definitely saw the similarities to Mulan, this novel definitely is so much more than that! Let me start off with the main character ‘’Meilin’’. I just loved her so much and she just deserved so much more than what she got :( I too can relate to constantly being disappointed by men so I’m sorry girlie. Hoping she’ll get the world and even more in the next book.

While I thought Sky was a pretty nice love interest and I was definitely enjoying his interactions with Meilin, I was literally kicking my feet and twirling my hair from the moment Lei was introduced. I NEED more of him in the next book, K.X Song if you happen to read this by any chance.. more Lei please.

In my opinion, this book did a beautiful (and very painful) explanation on how you as a woman can quite literally save the entire world and men will still find ways to blame you for the tiny things that went wrong. I was quite literally screaming in my pillow when Meilin’s identity was just diminished to a ’’woman’’ instead of being thanked or appreciated for all of the things she accomplished. She literally saved all those pathetic men just to be thanked like.. that?? Can’t wait for her to get her justice in the next book <3

5 ✯

When I found out about this Mulan retelling, I was so excited to read it. This book surpassed all my expectations, and I loved all the twists and changes compared to the Disney movie.

In this book, Meilin, leaves for war pretending to be a man however unlike Mulan who left to take her father's place, she leaves to escape being sold by her father to an abusive man. Her mother had died from suicide and her father, who had never quite recovered from her death, was an abusive man addicted to opium.

The magic in this book is unique and powerful. Qinglong and Zhurque (also known as the azure dragon and Vermilion bird in Chinese mythology) were used as the sources of magic for Meilin and Sima. “Just as the phoenix feeds off vengeance, the sea dragon feeds off greed.”. I loved how Qinglong had his own wants, trying to achieve them through Meilin. I really liked the aspect of the spirit realm where she would see and speak to Qinglong, as well as see others who were also connected to the spirit realm.

I love that it was never easy for Meilin to wield her magic, there were always struggles she faced. Using too much and she would lose her sight for a period of time and iron could be used against her to suppress her magic entirely. Not only did Meilin have to hide her identity of being a woman but she also had to hide her magic from everyone as it was viewed by most as black magic.

Unlike Mulan who only had one prince love interest, Meilin had two. Sky (aka the Shang of the story) who is kind, confident, whose duty is to his people. Lei, the enemy prince of Ximing, is darker, more secretive, and his ambitions were not always clear. As much as I liked Sky, I am definitely team Lei.

That ending!! I need the second book now, and the first one has not even been released yet. I have a lot of waiting to do.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC of this amazing book.

4 stars

The Night Ends With Fire is the first instalment of a duology. It is very much a Disney Mulan retelling with a twist. In the author's note K. X. Song describes her motivation for this book to be questions surrounding:

"What would happen to Mulan if she were no longer content? What if upon experiencing independence and freedom as a man, she no longer wished to confine herself to the restrictive boundaries of her society? Would society accept her as she was, or, by transgressing the norm, would they punish her for aspiring for more?"

With the above in mind, I think the author does a fantastic job. This book contains magic, adventure, feminism, betrayal, and hope. I found it very easy to read, there were a lot of action scenes and comradery, but there is also a lot of questions around trust - can Meilin trust anyone as a woman dressed as a man? Who is a friend and who is a foe? This story is great at making these questions hard to answer and is one of the many reasons I ended up being engrossed in this story.

This might be a Mulan retelling but it is far from a Disney story; it is dark and brutal at times with some heart breaking scenes thrown in for good measure. I found myself frustrated and heartbroken, but I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens in the next book and how our main character develops further.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"The Night Ends with Fire" is a historic fantasy retelling of Mulan that captures your attention with action, romance and magic. The plot follows Meilin who enlists in an army disguised as a man, after discovering her betrothed is violent and cruel.

This book beautifully depicts the struggle of our strong female protagonist in a male dominated society. Misogyny and the fight for independence is prominent throughout the plot. I appreciated Meilin’s selfishness as it grew, alongside her ambition. The love triangle is well developed and both love interests have individual draws, leaving it open. The complexity of the characters is really enjoyable as all of them can be considered morally grey to an extent.

I rated this book 4/5 stars and would definitely like to see more from this world

The Night Ends with Fire was retelling heroic story of Mulan at Chinesse inspired world featuring magic and girl powers. I genuinely love epic story of Mulan who disguise her self as man so she can take her old sick father's at army. And the premise to get twisted version of my favourite character with real ambition and strengths as woman truly intrigued me. Sadly, this book isn't really work for me.

First the writing and storytelling style weren't suited my taste. It is full of bones without enough meat at the narration. It is basicly all tell and nothing showing. It feel like read an outline novel and isnt the end product. I normally didn't enjoy too much description and flowery prose, but I need some of it for this story.

Half part of the plot look like coming straigh from the retelling Mulan version Disney cartoon. But the second part's plot is so much better and intriguing to follow. I still feel all characters two dimensional and not flesh out. But I enjoy Meilin more at here. The naming style of this book also isn't consistent with the real style/rules of Chinesse's name. Maybe extra research will help.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodderscape from Hodder and Stoughton Publisher for providing copy of this audiobook and ebook. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Expecting Publication : 2 July 2024

🌃🔥𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝔼𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕖🔥🌃
by @ksongwrites

This book was a delightful Mulan style story, with dragons, phoenix's and forbidden magic and I loved it!

We follow Meilin as she decides to seize her own fate after her father decides to sell her off for her dowry, she signs up for the war draft in his place as a formerly unknown bastard son and leaves to the war front within weeks. Her loyalty is struggling between the 7th Prince of her nation (who she grows close to during her training), a mythical dragon who offers her deeply forbidden powers, but the ability to command respect and loyalty from anyone she desires; something she as a woman has never known before - and an enemy prince who makes her question everything.
I loved this book! The relationships between the characters were so intricate and well developed, and I loved reading about how Meilin combated her natural disadvantage when it came to military training and being a woman in an army camp. The magic system was so unique and interesting too, and it was so fun to see how the different kingdoms within the book thought of magic users.
It had be gripped from beginning to end and that end o m g - the actual betrayal I felt from the actions of one of the characters right at then end was literally unfathomable; I couldn't believe they would have the audacity to treat [other character] as they did after everything [other character] did for them to keep them safe 😭💔
I absolutely cannot wait for the next installment in the series - I just have to know how [character] deals with the cards dealt to them and how they exact their retribution.
○
thank you to @netgalley for this e ARC!

Unfortunately, I gave up reading this book and I regret it. I didn't find the characters deep enough and I wasn't carried away by th plot.
Sadly it's a DNF :( Too YA for me

The Night Ends with Fire is the first part of a duology, which is a Mulan retelling at its core with the difference that the Mulan in this story is motivated by greed and isn't content with her allotted slot in life.

Please be aware that the following review includes spoilers.

PLOT OVERVIEW
Set in Tianjia, tensions escalate among the three kingdoms of Anlai, Ximing and Leyuan. Through the eyes of Hai Meilin from Anlai (our Mulan), we witness that her father is not an honourable man who will listen to the Imperial's call for arms but a greedy, abusive opium junkie with a gambling addiction. The family is destitute and requires Meilin to marry into a wealthy household as the dowry would offer financial stability for the family. Upon discovering her abusive fiancé and her desire to have "just a little more time", Meilin enlists in her father's steed - as his son Hai Ren who is born out of wedlock - despite her step-mother's worries that they will never allow a woman to hold onto power.

Upon leaving the family, her step-mother gives Meilin a jade amulet, which had belonged to her late mother. Unbeknownst to both women, the necklace contains a cardinal spirit: the dragon Qinglong. Concealing her identity as a woman and a spirit medium becomes crucial, as exposure could mean certain death, given the societal prohibition against women in warfare and the practice of black magic. Being assigned to the Seventh Company, led by the Seventh Prince of Anlai, Liu Sky, Meilin learns to fight and to be courageous. However, she discovers relatively soon that she is not the only spirit medium in the world; a vengeful man named Sima carries the seal of the phoenix: Zhuque. Where Qinglong feeds on greed, Zhuque feeds on vengeance. When the seal is stolen and broken, setting off a chain of events, Meilin embarks on a quest to find the remaining pieces to thwart Sima's plans.

CHARACTERS
There are three main characters, Meilin, Sky and Lei, who are accompanied by several side characters of different importance.

Meilin is, at her core, a greedy and power-hungry person who desires more than what society expects from a woman. I don't think that Song meant to portray her as a good and enjoyable character because, to me, she feels like a morally grey character who is selfish and driven by their own ambition and desire for more. Yes, she is a compelling main character as she grapples with her identity and confronts societal expectations in Anlai, but she is not a good character. Unfortunately, her greed makes her partly blind and stupid to anything around her (other characters, the environment, ...), which is always the reason for her getting hurt or getting into trouble.


Liu Sky is, on the other hand, the least power-hungry person in the story. While he is a kind and gentle character, who cares deeply for his people, his short temper and his sense of honour and duty are his main flaws. The only time where he moves away from following the law is when he discovers Meilin's gender. Instead of executing her for treason, which would have been expected of him, he tries to send her home to protect her as he cares deeply about her. I think, if Meilin hadn't been promised to another man, and if the war wouldn't happen, he would have asked for her hand in marriage relatively quickly (as they met at the beginning of the book where he saves her). In another life, he would have been a good husband for her as she deals with a lot of trauma from her childhood and early adulthood (loss of her mother, abusive father, ...) as he's a gentle character.


Cao Ming Lei, on the other hand, is Sky's total opposite. Where Sky is kind and gentle, Lei is enigmatic, indifferent, sly and ambitious, but also deeply vain. A rather morally grey character who also suffers from trauma (loss of his mother, abusive older brother, strained relationship with his father). While Sky says that he wouldn't use Meilin as a weapon, Lei doesn't hide it. He tortures her for his own gain and uses her as a tool to achieve his own goals, which are still unknown by the end of the book. While I don't doubt that he desires her, he feels like someone who would sacrifice Meilin if it meant that he would win in the end. Rather possessive as well but you have to protect your assets to win a war, I suppose.

WORLDBUILDING AND MAGIC
The story is set in Tianjia, which is a fantasy version of China in a way. Unlike the Disney version, the war in The Night Ends with Fire is caused by infighting between the three kingdoms. I felt that worldbuilding is the weakest part of the book as it's mostly created through reports or annals at the beginning of each chapter.

The strongest worldbuilding aspect is the magic. Song has created a whole new dynamic through the inclusion of forbidden magic and the Cardinal Spirits with their seals. Cardinal Spirits are the four spirits representing and controlling the time of day, seasons, elements and directions. These are:

⋙ Xuanwu - north, tortoise
⋙ Zhuque - south, phoenix - fire
⋙ Qinglong - east, dragon - water
⋙ Baihu - west, tiger

While only Qinglong and Zhuque play a role in the first instalment, there is a poem about all four seals, which gives me hope that we will meet the characters who will carry the spirit seals for Xuanwu and Baihu in the second instalment. As Qinglong is already associated with water (despite its element being wood in Qi Gong if I'm not mistaken), I think that Xuanwu will either be earth and Baihu will be metal or Song will go the traditional Western view of elements and will use earth and air for them.

One buried.
One drowned.
One stolen.
But none so pitiful as one forgotten.

Due to its traditional link with water, I think Xuanwu might be the one behind "one drowned" and Baihu being "one forgotten".

I want to point out, as it is a Mulan retelling that uses elements of the Disney version as well, that Qinglong is not Mushu. Yes, he's a dragon but where Mushu is there for comedic relief, Qinglong has his own agenda. He's sinister, cryptic and greedy. He uses Meilin as much as she uses him.


TL;DR
An epic fantasy book, blending elements of myth, history, and fantasy into a mesmerizing tapestry of adventure and intrigue. As readers embark on Meilin's odyssey, they are transported to a world teeming with magic, danger, and untold possibilities, ensuring that the flames of anticipation burn brightly for the next instalment.

The first few pages were really good. There was clear tension and excellent writing. When the chapter went on, I felt that the plot was starting to fall apart, even though the world building was easy to follow. I still enjoyed it

The Night Ends with Fire mixes the story of Mulan and of ancient China. When the kingdoms are at war and Meilin's father is too high on opium to accept the draft, she masquerade as a man to go in his place and so escape an arranged marriage. While Meilin knows the art of QiGong, she's not that familiar with weapons, and when she attracts the ire of one of the commander as soon as she gets to the military camp, Meilin is in for a wild ride. If that wasn't enough, the amulet that her mother left her contains the power of a dragon. If anybody finds out, she'll be sentenced to death as magic is prohibited in her kingdom. So now Meilin needs to navigate her life as a solider and how to use the powers of the dragon to stop the neighbouring kingdom from conquering her land.

I enjoyed the setting of the story and how Chinese mythology was included in the story. However, I felt Meilin's adventure was dragged too long and she didn't grow on her journey. Moreover she went through a lot only to be betrayed at the end. I hope that in book 2 we can see more of her strength and hopefully a love story with one of the princes.